Squeeze driers



I Unite States Patent Office Patented Aug. 12, 1958 vSQUEEZE DRIERS Frederick Roy Sibbald, Greenford, England, assignor to The Hoover Company, North Canton, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application November 19, 1954, Serial No. 470,04S

Claims priority, application Great Britain December 4, 1953 3 Claims. (Cl. 68-242) form of seal between a flexible bag in which the clothes are received, and to the interior of which suction is applied, and a cover by which the mouth of the bag is closed.

According to the present invention a suction squeeze drier for squeezing liquid from clothes includes a flexible impervious bag to receive the clothes, having at its mouth an outwardly directed flange affording a substantially plane annular sealing surface for engagement by a surface of a cover to close and seal the bag, characterised in that the back facevof the flange opposite the sealing surface is unsupported, so that the adjacent portion of the flange can yield bodily but will be urged into sealing engagement with the cover by atmospheric pressure.

In one form of the invention the drier includes a supporting platform having an opening in which the mouth of the bag is supported and a surface round the opening on which a part of the flange rests, the platform and flange being so shaped that a space will be left between them below the part of the flange with which the cover engages. For example the inner portion of the flange of the bag may be clamped to the platform whilst the upper surface of its peripheral portion provides the sealing surface and a space of wedge-shaped cross section is.

left between the lower surface of the peripheral portion and the platform.

One specific embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 shows a side elevation, partly in section, of a squeeze drier incorporating the present invention,

Figures 2 and 3 are enlarged sectional views of parts of Figure l, and

Figure 4 is an exploded View corresponding to Figure 2.

In this embodiment, the squeeze drier, which may be incorporated in a washing machine, for example as described in applicants United States Patent No. 2,793,519 granted May 28, 1957, and United States application Serial No. 395,221 filed November 30, 1953, comprises a flexible impervious bag moulded from rubber or like material of circular plan shape having a side Wall 11 of frusto-conical form merging into a curved bottom wall 12.

In accordance with the invention described in the presenht applicants companion U. S. A. patent application, Serial No. 470,079, filed November 19, 1954 the bag is supported by its mouth in an opening 13 in a supporting platform 14 having an upstanding flange 15 at the margin of the opening. The mouth of the bag is formed with a down-turned skirt 16 of which the lower "t edge merges into an outwardly directed flange 17. As

is shown in Figure 4, the outer surface 18 of the upstanding flange 15 is substantially cylindrical but in its unstressed condition the inner surface 19 of the skirt 16 is frusta-conical so as to decrease in circumference towards its upper end at which its circumference in the unstressed condition is appreci-ably less than that of the upstanding flange 1S. When the bag is lowered into position through the opening 13 in the platform 14, the skirt 16 is stretched round the flange so that the tension in it ensures tight sealing engagement between the upper part of the outer surface of the upstanding flange and the inner surface of the skirt. There is' little or no stretch of the lower end of the skirt so that the outwardly directed flange 17 remains unstressed and undistorted.

A rigid cast metal clamping ring 20 rests on top of the outwardly directed flange 17 and has a portion 21 extending over the top of the skirt and into the mouth of the bag. The clamping ring is secured to the platform by screws 22 passing through the flange of the rubber bag but since the skirt 16 is sealed to the upstanding flange 15 of the platform due to the tension in it, the number of screws can be reduced to a very small number, for example four, thus reducing the number of points at which leakage might occur and greatly simplifying the task of removing the bag in service.

At one point of its circumference, shown in Figure 3 and on the left in Figure 1, the flange 17 of the rubber bag is formed integrally with a Suction pipe connection 23 which extends down through a hole 24 in the platform and registers with a hole 25 in the clamping ring. This is connected through a suitable suction pipe 26 to a suction pump (not shown).

The bag is provided with a domed cover 27 which is of greater diameter than the clamping ring 20 and has a sealing rib 28 at its periphery. The outwardly directed flange 17 of the rubber bag extends beyond the clamping ring and affords a substantially plane annular sealing surface 29 for engagement by the sealing ring 28 of the cover.

In accordance with the present invention, and as is shown clearly in Figures 2 and 3, the peripheral portion of the flange 17 of the bag is chamfered or tapered at 30 so that whereas the inner portion 31 of the flange is clamped to that platform, the peripheral portion 32 is unsupported. Thus there is a space 33 of wedge-shaped cross-section between the underside of the periphery of the flange and the upper surface of the platform. Such an arrangement provides effective sealing with substantial tolerance in all directions. Thus the use of a substantially plane annular sealing surface 29 provides a seal that is not unduly sensitive to horizontal movement of the cover. Moreover, the rubber sealing surface can yield to a considerable extent in a vertical direction. At the same time when suction is applied to the interior of the bag the atmospheric pressure applied to the under surface 0r chamfer 30 of the periphery of the flange will press it firmly into sealing engagement.

The flange 17 of the rubber bag lies in an annular trough 34 pressed in the supporting platform 14, of

which the surrounding surface preferably slopes down towards this trough. Under normal circumstances the trough will contain liquid and when the periphery of the flange of the bag is pressed down the sealing surface will generally be wetted or flooded, thereby improving the seal.

Even in circumstances where there is insufficient water in the trough to flood the sealing surface, there is usually a certain amount in the space 33 under the chamfered surface 30. When the lid is clamped down the sealing ring 28 bears on the sealing surface 29 and presses it 3 downwards, reducing the space 33, and raising the level of the water above the sealing surface.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A suction squeeze drier for-squeezingliquid fromy clothes comprising a supporting platform having an opening, a flexible impervious. bag disposed in said opening and having a mouth to receive the clothes, a angefextending outwardly from said mouth and having an inner part and an outer part overlying said platform, clamping means clamping said inner part of said ange to said platform, a cover for said bag, means defining a sealing surface on said outer part of said bag flange and surrounding the clamping means for contact with said cover when in closed position, means defining a space between said platform and said outer part of said ange for displacement of said outer part of said flange toward said platform when said cover contacts said sealing surface in its closed position, and conduit means formed in said bag flange intermediate said sealing surface and bag mouth and communicating with the latter for connecting said bag mouth to a source of suction.

2. A suction squeeze drier for squeezing liquid from clothes comprising a supporting platform having an opening, a eXible impervious bag disposed in said opening and having a mouth to receive the clothes, a flange extending outwardly from said mouth and having an inner part and an outer part overlying said platform, clamping means clamping the innerk part of said flange to said platform, a cover for said bag, means defining a sealing surface on said outer part of said bag flange and surrounding the clamping means for contact with said cover when in closed position, and means dening a space be- 4. tween said platform and said outer part of said flange for displacement of said outer part of said ange toward said platform when said cover contacts said sealing surface in its closed position.

3. A suction squeeze drier for squeezing liquid from clothes comprising a supporting platform having an opening, a exible impervious bag disposed in said opening and having a mouth Vto receive the clothes, a ange at all times extending outwardly from said mouth and overlying said platform, a displaceable portion at the outer peripheral extremity of said flange surrounding mouth, a cover for said bag, means defining a sealing surface lying in a plane on said portion for contact with said cover when in closed position, and means defining a space between said platform and said portion for displacement of said portion toward said platform when said cover contacts said sealing surface in its closed position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,623,111 Hau Apr. 5, 1927 1,988,468 Woodward Ian. 22, 1935 2,056,466 Kauffman Oct. 6, 1936 2,099,365 Kemper Nov. 16, 1937 2,535,226 Oliver Dec. 26, 1950 2,626,885 Gollings Jan. 27, 1953 2,665,574 Rand Jan. 12, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS 186,917 Switzerland Mar. 16, 1937 664,319 Great Britain Jan. 2, 1952 

